Hand-pressed blue-corn tortillas stuffed with huitlacoche (Mexican corn smut), molten Oaxacan cheese, and epazote, then griddled until the masa crisps.
Where to eat it: 6 restaurants across 1 city.
Huitlacoche (Ustilago maydis) is a corn fungus considered a delicacy in pre-Hispanic Mexico, called the Mexican truffle and harvested during the summer rainy season. The Aztecs prized it as cuitlacochin. Mercado de San Juan, El Cardenal, and Cafe de Tacuba serve the classic quesadilla version. Pujol elevated huitlacoche to fine-dining application.
Common allergens: Dairy
Tip from the editors. Blue corn masa harina, if you can source it, gives a darker, sweeter tortilla; the standard yellow Maseca works but lacks the visual contrast against the black huitlacoche that makes the dish photograph beautifully.
El Cardenal in Mexico City is the Briz family's 1969 Centro Historico room on Palma, the traditional Mexican breakfast institution where hot chocolate.
Signature: Hot chocolate, Pan de nata, Chiles en nogada
Order: The hot chocolate with pan de nata; chiles en nogada when in season July to September.
Tip: Open 08:00-18:00; the Centro location seats four floors and still queues by 09:30 on Sunday morning.
Cafe de Tacuba in Mexico City is the Mollinedo family's 1912 Centro Historico room on Tacuba, the 17th-century palace dining hall that runs every traditional.
Signature: Enchiladas de mole, Tamales, Chocolate caliente
Order: Enchiladas de mole verde; tamales served with frothy chocolate caliente.
Tip: Daily 08:00-23:00; the strolling student trio on Sunday afternoons is the move for the room's full character.
Mercado de San Juan in Mexico City is the gourmet specialty market on Ernesto Pugibet in Centro Historico, the city's only such market with exotic meats.
Expendio de Maiz in Mexico City is the Roma Norte heirloom-corn counter where a single blue-corn tlacoyo runs about 70 pesos, hand-pressed daily on a comal.
Try: Two blue-corn tlacoyos
Mercado Medellin in Mexico City is the Roma Sur Latin American import market on Campeche, the pan-Latin grocery hall with Cuban, Colombian and Argentine.
Mercado Roma in Mexico City is the Roma Norte gourmet food hall on Queretaro, a three-floor market with 50-plus vendors covering Mexican, Italian, Venezuelan.
More cities are in research. Want quesadillas de huitlacoche covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.